The Learmonth Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Lakies'', is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

club based in the town of

Learmonth, Victoria Learmonth is a picturesque township, located in Central Victoria, Australia, west of the state capital Melbourne, and 23 kilometres north west of the regional city centre of Ballarat. Learmonth is located on the Sunraysia Highway, on the ro ...

. The club's colours are yellow and blue and play in the

Central Highlands Football League The Central Highlands Football League is an Australian Rules Football League in the Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, B ...

History

The Learmonth FC was founded at the turn of the 19th century and began its first years of existence by playing social matches against the neighbouring towns of Burrumbeet, Coghill's Creek and

Waubra Waubra (formerly known as The Springs) is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Sunraysia Highway, north west of Ballarat and split between the Pyrenees Shire and City of Ballarat local government areas. At the , Waubra and the surro ...

. These games extended further out to Lexton and

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

even before the foundation of the Learmonth & District Football Association in 1912 with Burrumbeet and Coghill's Creek winning the first premierships. Football in the LDFA was suspended from 1914 to 1918 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

but the sport resumed in 1919 and the Lakies won their first flag the following year in 1920. They won two more flags during the 1920s, being the runner up five times and winning four senior flags during the 1930s. After the 1933 season, the LDFA disbanded and the Lakies played in the Burrumbeet & District Football Association for six years before making another move to the Clunes Football League after the war. Upon joining the Clunes league, Learmonth's existing red and blue colours clashed with the

Hepburn Football Club The Hepburn Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Burras'', is an Australian rules football and netball club that plays in the town of Hepburn Springs, Victoria and plays in the Central Highlands Football League. The colours of the club are red ...

who were another new entrant and joined the league at an earlier date. Learmonth decided to change the strip to a royal blue background with a gold sash and changed again to a gold V in the late 1960s. Learmonth FC won their first Clunes FL premiership in 1952 and they won again in 1955. But the 1960s and 1970s saw a major downfall in performance, despite managing to make the Finals in 1977 finishing fifth and making the Grand Final and losing to new club

Wendouree Wendouree () is a large suburb on the north western rural-urban fringe of the city of Ballarat, in Victoria, Australia. It is the second most populated suburb in the City of Ballarat with a total of 10,376 inhabitants at the . It is named af ...

by 3 points. The Lakies made another Grand Final in 1994 and coming from a lower spot from the final four but lost to the undefeated

Dunnstown Football Club Dunnstown is the name of several geographic localities: * Dunnstown, Victoria, a town in Australia * Dunnstown, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place in the United States of America {{Geodis ...

. In 1979, the Clunes Football League and the

Ballarat Bacchus Marsh Football League Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vic ...

amalgamated to form the current

where Learmonth is currently playing.

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

and Daylesford joined the CHFL in 1994 and 2006 and Rokewood-Corindhap,

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

, Carngham-Linton and Illabarook (now Smythesdale) joined in 2011 from the former

Lexton Plains Football League The Lexton Plains Football League was an Australian rules football competition in western Victoria, Australia. The league ran an annual competition from 1999 to 2010. History The Western Plains FL was formed in 1930 and the Lexton FL was formed ...

. The Learmonth Lakies FC still are a founding member of the CHFL and the club still continues to field junior and senior football and netball teams.

A-Grade Premierships

*Learmonth Football Association ** 1920, 1921, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933 *Burrumbeet Football Association ** 1935 * Clunes Football League ** 1952, 1955

Bibliography

* ''History of Football in the Ballarat District'' by John Stoward -

References

External links

* {{CHFNL Australian rules football clubs in Victoria (state) Netball teams in Victoria (state) Sports clubs and teams established in 1889 1800s establishments in Australia